Do Departments issue holsters for your sidearm?

[Amuro1990]

Do departments issue a certain duty holster for your sidearm? Or can officers choose a holster of their choosin? I like Safariland holsters, i like the way they lock the gun in the holster, but i love the designs of thumb snap holsters, i believe they can be equally as protective as holsters that lock in the gun like Blackhawk and Safariland.I live in Fresno and I think the Fresno Police departments issue Safariland holsters, their sidearm in the Beretta PX4 Storm in .40 S&W.

[18sam2011]

Our department issues safariland 6360 duty Holsters but you can pretty much use whatever duty holster you want as long as it is at least a level I retention and it is approved by the department armorer.

[Amuro1990]

Do you see a disadvantage for an officer that uses holsters with retention straps or thumb straps?

[bluesmoke9]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a sam brown type duty holster that didn't have some kind of a thumb strap. The key is the retention level. Since the 90's my Dept. issued level III retention holsters so that it was very difficult for someone other than the guy wearing it to get it out. Now back in the 80's when I started all there were were holsters with only a thumb strap to hold the gun in place.

[18sam2011]

No disadvantages that I can see other than the bad guy will have a little bit easier of a time getting the good guys gun with just a thumb strap.

[Bunyfofu69]

Do departments issue a certain duty holster for your sidearm? Or can officers choose a holster of their choosin? I like Safariland holsters, i like the way they lock the gun in the holster, but i love the designs of thumb snap holsters, i believe they can be equally as protective as holsters that lock in the gun like Blackhawk and Safariland.I live in Fresno and I think the Fresno Police departments issue Safariland holsters, their sidearm in the Beretta PX4 Storm in .40 S&W.

My agency goes with Serpa's Level 3. Both Hip and Thigh holsters.

[Jonathan Doe]

My agency issue a Beretta 92FS and a Safariland holster for it. If you want to carry your own, authorized of course, you need you buy your own holster which I did. I carry a P226 and have my own holster.

[Amuro1990]

I have seen pictures of Sacramento Police and saw alot of officers were using different holsters, alot of holsters were different, some were retention level 3 or were holsters with thumb straps. I don't know if Fresno PD is the same, I have seen the officers carry what seems to be the same holster.

[Amuro1990]

My agency issue a Beretta 92FS and a Safariland holster for it. If you want to carry your own, authorized of course, you need you buy your own holster which I did. I carry a P226 and have my own holster.

Does that depend on the departments? Letting you choose what pistol to carry? Police here in Fresno carry Beretta PX4 Storms Type F. Have not seen a Police Officer with any other type of pistol.

[nobody33]

Our department does not issue them. There is a list of approved holsters... but I've never seen it. Most people have safariland 6280's, but there's a lot of cheapskates with level one snap holsters. We had a guy who was keeping his holster together with black electrical tape get into a foot chase, gun falls out (a dirty 1911) drops to the ground. As it hits the ground it fires and he gets shot in the leg. He is lucky he recovered.

Holsters and duty gear should be supplied and maintained at the department expense.

[tyrist]

I was issued a holster with my firearm. I called it the take away 1000.

[Triad]

Issued with firearm.

[Roddd]

Had to supply my own. Pretty soon my department will charge me to work there.

I love my Serpa III but I only carry that on days, it won't accomodate a surefire light so I have my safariland for that.

[Jonathan Doe]

Does that depend on the departments? Letting you choose what pistol to carry? Police here in Fresno carry Beretta PX4 Storms Type F. Have not seen a Police Officer with any other type of pistol.

We have a list of specific firearms that you can carry on and off duty. If decided to use your own gun from the list, you have to be trained with the pistol.

I have been trained in S&W pistols, H&K P7M8, H&K USP 45, H&K P2000, Ruger pistol, Sig P220/P226. I carry a P226 now and am happy with it.

[BigDogatPlay]

Always supplied my own holster. With semi-autos I always used Safariland, the last ten years or so I used a 070 level 3.

Do you see a disadvantage for an officer that uses holsters with retention straps or thumb straps?

No I do not, and many agencies specify in policy that duty holsters have to have some form of retention strap. The thumb actuated strap, be it a traditional thumb break or one of the more modern hooded types, such as the Safariland 6xxx series, is generally quite natural to perform a draw stroke through and gives the uniformed officer a layer of additional deterrance to a gun grab.